Dispensing apparatus having an adjustable article discharge means



y 25, 1967 LE ROY E. PENNINGTON 3,332,584 DISPENSING APPARATUS HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE ARTICLE DISCHARGE MEANS Filed Aug. 25, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. zz'zol'll Pmwzuemu wroz/m s July 25, 1967 LE ROY E- PENNIN GTON DISPENSING APPARATUS HAVING AN ADJUSTABLE ARTICLE DISCHARGE MEANS Filed Aug. 23, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4Z- mi 52 50 50 H "in, ll'llv. E 65 20 66 75' Hg 4 22 INVENTOR.

zzzaylfkezwwarau United States Patent 3,332,584 DISPENSING APPARATUS HAVING AN ADJUST- ABLE ARTICLE DISCHARGE MEANS Le Roy E. Pennington, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Advance Engineering Company, Minneapolis, Minn, a

corporation of Minnesota Filed Aug. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 481,700 13 Claims. (Cl. 222292) This invention relates to dispensing apparatus and more particularly to an improved dispenser usable with dry fluent materials such as granular or powder materials. This improved dispenser is particularly useful in the preparation of foods and concocting of beverages such as is used in coin operated vending machines Most dispensers of this type have in the past lacked versatility because they were not capable of adjustment to vary the amount of material dispensed for each operation of the dispenser. Still other designs met this deficiency with special valving which added to the complexity of the dispenser and made it difficult to clean and service. Since apparatus of this type is controlled by legislation governing the handling of food for human consumption, the problem of the maintenance and cleaning is critical and, in the past, prior dispensers have been deficient in this respect.

The present invention is an improvement over the dispenser shown in the Patent No. 2,975,937 issued to Gilbert vp. Totten, entitled, Metering Vending Dispenser, and dated Mar. 21, 1961. In dispensers of this type, the amount of material dispensed in a cycle of operation of the dispenser is conveniently termed a throw. In the improved dispenser of the present invention, the dispenser is adjustable to vary the size of the throw through a simplified mechanical arrangement which eliminates the need of special valving and does not come in contact with the material dispensed such as to require special cleaning of these parts. The improved dispenser utilizes an eccentric mechanism for mounting the dispensing wheel with respect to the dispensing hole in a hopper such that the amount of material dispensed will be controlled by the relative position of the dispensing wheel and the hole in the hopper. In this respect the dispenser may be made adjustable for each cycle of operation to vary the amount or throw of material dispensed up to the limitations of the aperture in the dispensing wheel and hopper. The improved dispenser may be manually or motor operated and is associated with the hopper in such a manner that the hopper may be readily removed and cleaned or filled for maintenance without disassembly of the adjustment mechanism.

Therefore the principal object of this invention is to provide an improved dispenser of dry fluent materials.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a dispenser of this type an adjustment mechanism which will vary the amount of material dispensed for each cycle of operation.

Still another object of this invention is to provide in a dispenser of this type an adjustment mechanism which will vary the throw of the material without altering the timing of the machine with which it is associated or changing the parts thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a dispenser of this type an arrangement of parts which may be readily cleaned and maintained.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a dispenser which is simple in design, low in cost, easily adjusted, and may be applied to all types of machines incorporating dispensing apparatus.

Patented July 25, 1967 These and other objects of this invention wil become apparent from a reading of the attached description together with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the improved dispenser,

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of an alternate version of the improved dispenser utilizing a modified hopper,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the dispenser taken along the lines 33 in FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the dispenser taken along the lines 4-4 in FIGURE 3, I

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of the dispenser of FIG- URE 2 with parts removed,

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the components of the eccentric for the dispenser, and

FIGURE 7 is a schematic view of an alternate drive apparatus for the dispenser.

My improved dispenser is shown in FIGURE 1 as comprising a hopper 10 which is open at the upper extremity 12 and has a flange supporting structure 14 formed integral therewith and projecting from the bottom of the same. The hopper may be made of any suitable material, such as plastic or metal, and includes a discharge chute 16 open at one extremity and communicating with an aperture 20 in the base of the hopper. Positioned beneath the hopper and associated with a drive shaft 22 for the same is an adjustment mechanism of the eccentric type shown generally at 24. The drive shaft 22 is coupled with a gear section, shown in block at 26, which is driven by a motor 28 with the flange structure 14 of the hopper riding on and being supported by the gear section 26 for the motor. Positioned within the hopper is a bafiie 30 which is formed integral with or connected to the bottom 32 of the hopper 10 and is slightly spaced therefrom. Within the hopper and partially covered by the baffle 30 is a dispensing wheel 34 which is coupled to the shaft 22 and secured thereto by a locking pin or key 35. As will be hereinafter identified, the dispensing wheel 34 has an aperture or apertures therein which pick up dry granular material or powder material from the hopper and move a portion of it beneath the bafi'le where the material drops through the aperture or hole 20 in the base of the hopper to be discharged at the chute 16, A throw of material from the dispenser may require a full or partial rotation of the dispensing wheel 34 bringing the material to be dispensed from the hopper beneath the bafiie 30 in the hole or holes of the dispensing wheel. Adjustment of the size of the throw of the material is efiected by the adjusting mechanism, shown generally at 24 which adjusts the positions of the shaft 22 relative to the hole 20 through an eccentric mechanism as will be hereinafter identified. The hopper, being supported on the gearing section 26 may move relative to the gearing section 26 and motor which are normally fixed to the machine with which they are associated.

FIGURE 2 shows an alternate mounting and slightly modified hopper construction for the dispenser. Thus in FIGURE 2, the hopper is a cylindrical container, such as a glass bottle, with a closed top extremity 42 and a threaded lower extremity which is open. Associated with the lower extremity is an annular clamping ring 46 which is designed to mount and clamp a base plate 48 for the hopper which base plate is the equivalent of the closed bottom extremity of the hopper of FIGURE 1. It mounts the batfie 30 on the upper surface thereof associated with the dispensing wheel 34 which wheel is driven by the shaft 22 coupled to the gearing section 26 driven by motor 28. The adjustment mechanism 24 associated with the shaft is partially enclosed by a semicircular flange section 47 which rides on the gearing housing 26, as in the before mentioned embodiment. It will be understood that the manual operating mechanism may be adjusted to operate through any desired range of movement in the operation of the dispenser mechanism. With this hopper configuration, the hopper is removed for filling and for cleaning by physically lifting the hopper with the plate 48 attached thereto from the motor and gearing 26, 28 upon which it rests. The shaft 22 being splined and slidably mounted in a gearing to cooperate with the similar coupling on the gearing permits removal of the shaft. The hopper is disassembled by the removal of the clamping ring 46 to release the base plate 48, which is the same as the bottom of the hopper and mounts thereon the dispensing wheel 34, the adjustment mechanism 24 and the shaft 22.

The details of the drive structure for the dispenser and the adjustment section will be best seen in connection with FIGURES 3, 4, 5 and 6'. These views relate specifically to the disclosure of FIGURE 2 in which the bottom of the hopper is the removable dispenser plate 48 upon which the adjusting mechanism and drive wheel are mounted. It will be understood, however, that this same apparatus may be applied to the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1 in which the dispenser plate or hopper bottom is integral with the walls of the hopper, such as is shown at 32 in FIGURE 1. For simplicity, therefore, similar correspondence between these parts will be identified by the same number. Thus, as will be seen in FIG- URES 3, 4 and 5, the dispensing plate or hopper bottom mounts the bafile 30 formed integral therewith and spaced from the upper surface of the plate a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the dispensing wheel 34. The dispensing hole in the plate or hopper bottom through which the material to be dispensed passes, is positioned beneath the bafile 30. A dispensing chute (not shown) may be included to encircle the same and direct the flow of the dispensed material from the hopper, if

desired. The dispensing wheel 34 has a plurality of apertures or holes around the peripheral edge of the same, the holes being of the same shape and dimensions as the aperture 20 in the hopper bottom. The center of the dispensing wheel 34 has a raised hub section 52 with an elongated slot 54 therein through which a flat portion 56 on the extremity of the shaft extends for a positive driving connection of the dispensing wheel from the shaft 22. The dispensing wheel is so located in the hopper as to be exposed to the granular material therein such that the material flows into and fills the apertures 50 in the wheel. As will be noted in the sectional view, the wheel has a suflicient thickness and the baffle 30 covers only a portion of the wheel such that as the shaft 22 is rotated, the bafile will remove excess material from the top of the wheel and deposit into the discharge hole or aperture 20 in the plate 48 only the amount of material contained in each aperture 50 of the wheel. Thus the wheel acts as a transport to take the dry fluent material from the hopper in a given quantity and move it over the discharge hole 20 in the plate. The extent of rotation of the wheel and the number of holes passing over the discharge outlet 20 to deposit material therein will be determined by the timing of the dispensing apparatus and will determine the throw of the same. In the full flow position of the dispenser, the apertures 50 align and coincide exactly with the dispensing hole 26 in the base plate such that all of the material transported by the wheel will be deposited through the aperture in the dispenser plate for a single throw of material. As the rotational axis of the shaft 22 is displaced relative to the base plate 48 or bottom of the hopper and hence the aperture 26 therein, the holes 50 in the dispenser wheel or transport will not coincide with the discharge aperture 20 in the base plate and hence a portion of the material in the holes 50 in the dispensing wheel will be retained and not discharged through the outlet hole 20 in the base plate 48. In this manner, the amount of material to be deposited by the dispenser for a single cycle is adjusted. The distance traveled by the dispensing wheel 34 and the timing of the apparatus with which the dispenser is associated may be left unchanged, and the same dispensing wheel may be utilized for all of the ranges of adjustment of the dispenser. This will permit the dispenser to be used with varying types of material and for concoction of various types of beverages which require different amounts of granular material, or in the preparation of various foods, which require different amounts of the granular material within the limits of the adjustment of the dispenser. Depending upon the physical size of parts and the degree of eccentricity or adjustment of the position of the drive shaft, as well as timing of the apparatus, this range of adjustment becomes virtually unlimited.

The adjustment of the position of the dispensing wheel 34 with respect to the bottom of the hopper or the dis penser plate 48 is effected by the adjustment mechanism shown generally at 24-. As will be seen in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, this adjustment mechanism is comprised of an adjusting quadrant 6t) and an adjustment hub 62 which are journaled on the dispenser plate or bottom of the hopper and mount the shaft 22, as will be hereinafter described. The adjusting quadrant has a recessed surface 65 which mounts on an annular flange 66 integral with a circular platelike extremity 71 which is journaled in a circular recess 73 in the base plate 48 or bottom of the hopper to journal the adjustment mechanism 24 thereon. The center of the annular flange is oilset from the geometric center of the platelike extremity 71 and the recess 73 in the base plate to give eccentricity to the adjustment mechanism. The recess 65 extends partially through the adjusting quadrant and terminates in a second recess 67 concentric with the recess 65 and having a flat surface 69 thereon. Formed integral with the centrally located portion of the quadrant and extending therefrom is an arcuate portion 70 having an arcuate slot 72 therein. This arcuate portion 70 is shown herein as covering substantially 140 degree segment concentric with the geometric centers of the recesses 67 and 65 and defines the limit of adjustment of the mechanism disclosed. It will be understood, however, that this arcuate adjusting section may be increased or diminished in size and length to provide any desired range of adjustment.

The adjustment hub 62 with the circular platelike extremity 71 rides in a recess 73 in the dispenser plate 48 and covers or encloses the journalling recess 73 in the bottom of the hopper or in the base plate 48. The hub 62 includes a main cylindrical body which has a portion cut away, as at 75, to cooperate with the flat surface 69 in the adjusting quadrant for a positive driving connection therewith. In addition the hub has a cylindrical aperture 76 extending therethrough which mounts the shaft 22 and journals the same for rotational movement. The axial center of the aperture 76 is displaced from the axial center of the recess 73 the circular platelike extremity 71 integral with the flange 66 and hub 62 to provide the eccentricity in the adjustment mechanism. In the assembled relationship, the hub 62 is positioned with its circular platelike extremity 71 on the upper or exposed side of the hopper bottom or base plate 48 and with its cylindrical body extending through the aperture therein defined by the annular flange 66 in the'bottom.

The adjusting quadrant 6t) mounts on the hub 62 and.

hence is supported on the base plate in that its recess 65 is positioned over the annular flange 66 integral with the main body and the circular platelike extremity of the adjusting hub. The hub 62 extends through the adjusting quadrant 60 with the flat surface 69 of the recess 67 cooperating with the flat or similar surface 75 on the hub to provide a driving connection or keyed connection therebetween. Shaft 22 is positioned through the aperture 76 in the hub 62 and it includes a cylindrical flange 80 midway along its extent having flat abutment surfaces 82 extending along the extent of the shaft which cooperate with similar surfaces in a coupling member 85 of the gearing section to provide a positive driving connection for one direction of rotation of the shaft and permits removal of the shaft from the coupling member 85 by sliding the same axially out of the same. The upper extremity of the shaft 22 is flattened, as at 56, to fit through the slot 54 in the hub 52 of the dispersing wheel 34 and this portion of the shaft has an aperture 86 and a slot 88 in the top of the same to permit the insertion of the key 36 therethrough to hold a shaft on the adjusting mechanism and in driving relation with the dispensing wheel 34. The removal of the key 36 from the slot 88 and aperture 86, permits removal of the shaft whose shoulder portion 80 normally bears against the bottom edge of the adjusting quadrant 60 and hub 62 in assembled relationship. Upon removal of the shaft, the dispensing wheel can be slid out from underneath the batfle 30 to facilitate cleaning of the dispensing mechanism. The circular platelike extremity 71 of the hub 62 in its position in the hopper bottom or base plate 48 seals the adjustment mechanism such that the granular material does not come in contact with the same. The adjusting quadrant 60 and adjustment hub 62 may be made of any suitable material, either metallic or plastic as desired. Preferably, the adjustment hub 62 is made of a plastic material suitable for j'ournaling the drive shaft 22 of the dispenser. Thus it will be evident that upon rotation of the adjustment quadrant 68 which rotates hub 62 through its circular platelike extremity positioned in the bottom of the hopper or on the dispensing plate 48 which forms the hopper bottom, the adjustment hub 62 will move relative to the base plate 48. This will displace the aperture 76 therein which mounts the shaft 22 driving the dispensing wheel 34 to move the axis of rotation of the shaft and hence the dispensing Wheel relative to the base plate 48 or the bottom of the hopper and the outlet aperture 28 therein. This adjustment is calibrated such that the size of the throw may be varied as desired. Positioned on the bottom of the dispensing plate is a reprojecting flange member 88 taking a cross-sectional form of an arrow as an index member for the adjustment mechanism. This flange member 88, when the adjustment hub 62 is positioned within the adjustment quadrant 60 and mounted on the underside of the base plate 48 will project through the slot 72 in the arcuate portion thereof. The inner surface of this slot is ribbed, as at 90, along its extent to cooperate with the pointed end of the flange 88 and provide a frictional engagement therebetween. A number of ribs 92 are positioned on the outer surface of the arcuate portion of the adjusting quadrant as an indicia to indicate the degree of eccentricity of the shaft mounting and hence the degree to which the apertures 50 in the dispensing wheel 34 align with the outlet aperture 28 in the dispensing plate. The ribs 92 with numerals thereon, are exposed on the bottom side of the adjustment mechanism and in the preferable form, the arcuate portion is flexible such as to permit relative movement between the flange member 88 and this portion of the adjusting quadrant for adjustment pun-poses. The arcuate portion is preferably made flexible such that it may be deformed to allow the pointed end of the flange member to pass by the inner rib surface 90 of the adjusting quadrant during this adjustment. When desired adjustment is obtained, the engagement of the pointed portion of the flange 88 on the base plate 48 with the grooves of the surface 90 of the quadrant 60 will provide a frictional engagement to effectively lock the adjustment quadrant and the adjustment hub together in a fixed relationship relative to the base plate 48 such that friction from shaft rotation will not alter the same. Inasmuch as the flange member 88 8 is fixed or formed integral with the bottom of the hopper or dispensing plate 48, the adjustment mechanism when set will not move, and the shaft 22 and the dispensing Wheel 34 mounted thereon will not be displaced relative to the hopper bottom except for normal rotation of the same. Thus the adjustment mechanism through the eccentric arrangement shifts the axis of rotation of the dispensing wheel or transport Wheel toward and away from the hole in the hopper or dispensing plate 48 to vary the amount of material retained by the apertures in the wheel 50 as the dispensing wheel is rotated during a normal throw of the dispenser. It will be noted that the adjustment mechanism provides for moving of the axis of rotation of the drive shaft 22 relative to the hopper bottom during adjustment of the position of the dispensing wheel relative to the outlet aperture 20 in the hopper bottom. In the mounting of the dispenser on an associated vending machine or frame, it is thus necessary to provide for relative movement between the driving motor and the hopper to accommodate this adjustment. In the disclosure of FIGURE 1, the hopper proper is mounted to freely rest on the gearing section 26 of the motor 28 and be free of any positive connection with the assembled apparatus upon which the dispenser is mounted. In certain instances, however, the hopper is fixed or formed as a part of associated apparatus and it is necessary to slidably mount the driving motor associated therewith. Thus in FIGURE 2, the drive motor and gearing 28 and 26 respectively are shown slidably mounted in a mounting flange 94 having slots 95 therein which mount or position dogs 96 on the ,motor to permit a sliding of the motor 28 relative to the flange 94 to align the coupling member 85 with the adjusted position of the shaft 22. The electrical connections or conductors to the motor are made flexible (not shown) to facilitate or permit such movement.

In FIGURE 7, an alternate drive arrangement for the dispenser is shown. In the prior embodiments, a drive motor suitably connected and controlled through associated apparatus (not shown) determines the throw of a dispenser. In FIGURE 7, the gearing 26 has connected thereto an input shaft 98, with a pinion 99 and a pivot handle 100 with a rack 102 on the same cooperates to rotate the shaft 98. Thus handle 100 may be rotated or moved to rotate the shaft 98 and hence the gearing to effect rotation of the output shaft 22 manually. Fixed limit stops may be incorporated in the gearing structure to limit movement of the handle and a slip clutch may be included to provide for unidirectional rotation of the shaft 22. Further the handle may be connected for spring return operation or may be continuously rotatable between fixed positions to rotate the dispenser wheel through a given angle of rotation.

In my improved dispenser, the throw of the dispenser is adjusted through a separate mechanism which displaces the axis of rotation of the dispensing wheel or transport wheel relative to the hopper without effecting the degree of rotation or requiring a change in parts for the same. Thus the improved dispenser will vary the throw of the dispenser through a simplified setting of an adjustment mechanism Which when set will be retained. The improved dispenser may utilize a hopper which is fixed to the apparatus with which the dispenser is associated or may be movable relative thereto. It may be applied to conventional hoppers or may utilize a separate hopper which is removable with the drive shaft for refilling andvmaintenance purposes. The improved dispenser is readily assembled and disassembled for cleaning purposes and is normally sealed such that the adjustment mechanism does not have to be removed for this purpose. In one version of the dispenser, the hopper is positioned and slidably mounted on the drive mechanism and coupled thereto through splined type connection to provide a removable drive shaft for the dispenser such that the entire assembly may be removed when it is desired to fill or clean the same. In an alternate version, the drive mechanism, whether it be, a manually operated gearing or motor operated gearing, is provided with a slidable mounting to permit relative movement between the hopper and the drive mechanism for adjustment to the throw of the dispenser. The improved structure is readily disassembled by removal of the key holding the dispenser Wheel on the drive shaft 22 to release the wheel for cleaning purposes. The platelike extremity of the adjustment hub of the eccentric mechanism rotates in and seals the bottom of the hopper such that the material being dispensed may not enter the adjustment or drive mechanism. In the bottle type hopper, the hopper is readily removed from the remaining portion of the dispensing mechanism by release of the same at the connecting flange 46 such that the hopper may be simply filled and the remaining portion of the dispenser readily cleaned. This simplified structure eliminates the need for special valving in the outlet passage of the dispenser to simplify maintenance and cleaning. Further, the accuracy in adjustment of the dispenser is greatly enhanced and will not become altered during operation of the dispenser.

Therefore in considering this invention it should be remembered that the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative only and that the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dispenser for dry fluent material, comprising, a hopper having a bottom therein, a rotatable shaft and means for rotating the same in cyclic operation, a baffle attached to the hopper bottom and extending partially over the bottom being spaced therefrom, an aperture located under the baffle in the hopper bottom, a dispensing wheel operatively connected to the rotatable shaft and having aperture means therein for successfully engaging a throw of material from the hopper and transporting the same under the baffle to the aperture in the hopper bottom, eccentric means in the hopper bottom mounting the rotatable shaft for rotation about a first axis and being rotatably mounted in a recess in the hopper bottom for rotation about a second axis displaced from the first axis, and means for adjusting the eccentric means relative to the hopper bottom to displace the axis of rotation of the shaft and the dispensing wheel driven thereon with the aperture means therein relative to the hopper bottom and the aperture therein to vary the amount of material deposited by the dispensing wheel for each cycle of operation.

2. A dispenser for dry fluent material, comprising, a hopper having a dispenser base plate in the bottom thereof, a rotatable shaft and a motor means connected thereto for driving the shaft in cyclic operation, a battle extending partially over the base plate in the bottom of the hopper and being spaced therefrom, an aperture located under the baffle in the dispenser base plate, a dispensing wheel having an aperture therein and operatively connected to the shaftrfor successfully engaging a throw of material from the hopper and transporting the same under the balfle to the aperture in the dispensing base plate, a two-part eccentric means having a first part journaling said shaft for rotation about a first axis and being journaled in the dispenser base plate for rotation about a second axis displaced from the first axis of rotation of said shaft, a second part of said eccentric means being keyed to said first part of said eccentric means and operated to effect displacement of the first part and the shaft therein relative to the dispenser base plate such that the aperture in the dispensing wheel is displaced relative to the aperture in the dispensing base plate to vary the amount of material deposited by the wheel with each cycle of operation.

3. The dispenser of claim 2 in which the dispensing Wheel has a plurality of apertures about the peripheral edge of the same adapted to be brought into positions of varying alignment with the aperture in the dispenser base plate and in which the rotatable shaft mounting the dispensing wheel is removably coupled to the motor to facilitate removel of the hopper and dispensing base plate with the shaft thereon from the motor;

4. The dispenser of claim 3 in which the dispensing wheel is partially disposed under the baffle in the dispensing base plate and the first part of the eccentric means seals the bottom of the hopper at the dispensing base plate except for the aperture therein.

5. The dispenser of claim 2 in which the first part of the eccentric means is comprised of an adjusting hub journaling the rotatable shaft to which the dispensing wheel is connected and the second part of the eccentric means is an adjusting quadrant mounted on the adjusting hub in a keyed relationship to rotate the eccentric means about the second axis which is displaced from the axis of rotation of said rotatable shaft in the adjusting hub with the adjusting hub being rotatably mounted in a recess in the dispensing base plate to seal the hopper at the dispensing base plate.

6. The dispenser of claim 2 in which the hopper is releasably coupled to the dispensing base plate and including means mounting the motor with the hopper thereon such that the hopper will move with adjustment of the eccentric means relative to the motor.

7. The dispenser of claim 5 and including means mounted on the bottom of the dispensing base plate of the hopper and cooperating with the adjusting quadrant to provide for frictional engagement therebetween to permit manual adjustment of the eccentric means to displace the axis of rotation of the shaft relative to the base plate manually and prevent change in the adjustment of the position of the axis of rotation of the shaft relative to the base plate upon rotation of the shaft with the dispensing wheel thereon.

8. The dispenser of claim 5 and including an index member projecting from the bottom of the dispensing base plate of the hopper and positioned in an arcuate slot in the adjusting quadrant, the arcuate slot having ribbed surfaces and said index member positioned in the arcuate slot engaging the ribbed surfaces to frictionally couple the index member and hence the hopper with the adjusting quadrant to prevent movement of the adjusting quadrant upon rotation of the shaft.

9. The dispenser of claim 8 in which the adjusting quadrant has the fixed indicia thereon indicating with the index member the degree of displacement of the axis of the rotation of the shaft relative to the second axis of the eccentric means in the hopper bottom to indicate the deree of alignment of the aperture in the dispensing wheel relative to the aperture to the dispensing plate hopper.

10. A dispenser for a dry fluent material comprising, a hopper having a bottom therein, a battle extending partially over the bottom of the hopper and spaced therefrom, an aperture positioned in the bottom of the hopper and beneath the baffle, a dispensing wheel positioned in the hopper under said baffle and having aperture means there in adapted to cooperate with the aperture in the bottom of the hopper, shaft means mounting the dispensing wheel and adapted to be rotated to move the dispensing wheels successively to engage a throw of material from the hopper and transport it under the baflle to the aperture in the bottom of the hopper, means journaling said shaft means in the bottom of said hopper, and means included With said last named means for adjusting the axis of said shaft relative to the aperture in the bottom of the hopper to cause said dispensing Wheel to retain part of the throw of material as said shaft is rotated.

11. The dispenser of claim 10 including means for rotating said shaft, and means providing relative displacement between the hopper and said last named means to permit adjustment of the axis of rotation of the shaft relative to the aperture in the bottom of the hopper.

12. The dispenser of claim 11 in Which the means included with the means journaling said shaft is a manually adjustable eccentric mounting means for the journaling means, and including frictional locking means included in part in said last named means and in part on said hopper bottom to lock the eccentric mounting means in adjustable positions.

13. The dispenser of claim 12 in which the hopper is an enclosed housing having a single opening in which the dispensing plate is positioned and including a threaded coupling member adapted to be threaded onto a threaded surface of the hopper about the single opening to retain the dispensing plate in said single opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1928 Germany.

6/ 1909 Great Britain.

15 WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A DISPENSER FOR DRY FLUENT MATERIAL, COMPRISING, A HOPPER HAVING A BOTTOM THEREIN, A ROTATABLE SHAFT AND MEANS FOR ROTATING THE SAME IN CYCLIC OPERATION, A BAFFLE ATTACHED TO THE HOPPER BOTTOM AND EXTENDING PARTIALLY OVER THE BOTTOM BEING SPACED THEREFROM, AN APERTURE LOCATED UNDER THE BAFFLE IN THE HOPPER BOTTOM, A DISPENSING WHEEL OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO THE ROTATABLE SHAFT AND HAVING APERTURE MEANS THEREIN FOR SUCCESSFULLY ENGAGING A THROW OF MATERIAL FROM THE HOPPER AND TRANSPORTING THE SAME UNDER THE BAFFLE TO THE APERTURE IN THE HOPPER BOTTOM, ECCENTRIC MEANS IN THE HOPPER BOTTOM MOUNTING THE ROTATABLE SHAFT FOR ROTATION ABOUT A FIRST AXIS AND BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN A RECESS IN THE HOPPER BOTTOM FOR ROTATION ABOUT A SECOND AXIS DISPLACED FROM THE FIRST AXIS, AND MEANS FOR ADJUSTING THE ECCENTRIC MEANS RELATIVE TO THE HOPPER BOTTOM TO DISPLACE THE AXIS OF ROTATION OF THE SHAFT AND THE DISPENSING WHEEL DRIVEN THEREON WITH THE APERTURE MEANS THEREIN RELATIVE TO THE HOPPER BOTTOM AND THE APERTURE THEREIN TO VARY THE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL DISPOSITED BY THE DISPENSING WHEEL FOR EACH CYCLE OF OPERATION. 